Dry beverage mixes, particularly imitation fruit juice beverage mixes, are typically formulated with a particulate clouding agent in order to imitate the opacity of a natural juice. Most clouding agents are prepared by combining a spacing agent such as maltodextrin, a suspending agent such as gum arabic, and titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide is the key ingredient which provides opacity in the clouding agent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,326 to Serafino et al. discloses a particulate clouding composition for dry mix beverages containing TiO.sub.2. U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,613 to Mezzino et al. describes a particulate, dry beverage mix clouding agent containing up to 20% by weight TiO.sub.2.
In typical methods of preparing a clouding agent, including the methods described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,187,326 and 4,529,613, the spacing agent and suspending agent are added to water and subjected to high shear mixing. The titanium dioxide is added after the spacing agent and suspending agents are dispersed by the initial high shear mixing and the mixture is again subjected to further high shear mixing. The resulting slurry is then dried, typically by spray drying. The resulting co-dried clouding agent may then be included in a dry beverage mix, particularly a fruit flavored dry beverage mix.
There are several drawbacks associated with conventional clouding agents and methods of preparation thereof. One problem is that while it is desirable to have a relatively high level of titanium dioxide to provide the right opacity, the amount of titanium dioxide which may be included in the clouding agent is limited because of its tendency to precipitate out and create sedimentation in the reconstituted beverage. Another problem is that in conventional methods of preparing clouding agents, the processing rates are slowed because the inner surfaces of the processing vessels tend to become caked, requiring significant cleaning efforts before subsequent batches may be manufactured. Loss of the ingredients in this way also reduces yield. It has been found that in these prior art processes, higher titanium dioxide content in the slurry made it harder to spray dry the slurry, further reducing yield and lowering throughtput.
Accordingly, there is a need for a clouding agent having increased opacity on an equal weight basis and a process of manufacture thereof which reduces undesirable buildup of material on the sides of the mixing tank thereby improving the throughput and yield of the process.